Head-to-head · profiles checked Oct 1, 2026
Pick Gemini when you want a general assistant, and NotebookLM when you want answers locked to your own documents. Gemini runs from a $0 plan to $199.99/month and covers Deep Research, image generation and Gmail access. NotebookLM, now Gemini Notebook, is free with up to 50 sources per notebook, but its paid prices are not published on its plans page.
We based this comparison on our Google Gemini profile verified 2026-09-30 and our NotebookLM profile verified 2026-10-01, both built from official Google pages; it uses no third-party benchmarks and no vendor paid for placement.
These two are less rivals than neighbours. Google Gemini is a general assistant: chat, Deep Research, image and video generation, Gmail and Drive access, and plans from $0 to $199.99/month. NotebookLM, now branded Gemini Notebook, only answers from the sources you put in a notebook, with 50 sources on the free tier. If you need an assistant for everything, pick Gemini. If you need grounded answers, flashcards and audio recaps from your own documents, pick the notebook. Gemini's Free plan already includes Gemini Notebook, so you can try both at $0. NotebookLM's paid prices are not shown on its plans page.
Based on our Google Gemini profile verified 2026-09-30 and our NotebookLM (Gemini Notebook) profile verified 2026-10-01; NotebookLM's paid prices, API, retention and file limits were not confirmed, and no benchmark was run.
If you only want the answer, this is the table. Everything below is the evidence from the two documented profiles.
| You want to | Use | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Ask open questions on any topic | Google Gemini | Gemini is a general chat assistant; NotebookLM answers from sources you add |
| Get answers grounded in your own documents | Gemini Notebook (formerly NotebookLM) | NotebookLM answers using only the sources in a notebook, though citations are not always shown |
| Study for an exam from lecture notes | Gemini Notebook (formerly NotebookLM) | NotebookLM generates flashcards, reports and Audio Overviews from your sources |
| Summarize a few long files in one chat | Either | Gemini takes up to 10 files per prompt; NotebookLM holds up to 50 sources in a notebook |
| Write a multi-source research report | Google Gemini | Gemini Deep Research is on all plans; NotebookLM lists Source Discovery and Deep Research, with no detail checked |
| Generate images or video | Google Gemini | Gemini lists image generation on Free and video from AI Plus; NotebookLM lists Video Overviews only |
| Act on Gmail, Calendar and Drive | Google Gemini | Gemini has Connected Apps; NotebookLM lists no such integration |
| Listen to a recap on the go | Gemini Notebook (formerly NotebookLM) | NotebookLM's Audio Overviews turn sources into a spoken-style recap |
| Build an app on an API | Google Gemini | Gemini has a Developer API; no NotebookLM API is stated |
| Share a public Q&A notebook | Gemini Notebook (formerly NotebookLM) | NotebookLM allows public sharing on consumer accounts only |
| Plan | Tool | Price | Limits |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gemini Free | Google Gemini | $0 | Standard compute-based limits, 32k context, up to 10 files per prompt, 15 GB storage |
| Google AI Plus | Google Gemini | $4.99/mo | 2x Free usage limits, 400 GB storage |
| Google AI Pro | Google Gemini | $19.99/mo | 4x Free usage limits, 1M context, 5 TB storage |
| Google AI Ultra (5x) | Google Gemini | $99.99/mo | 5x AI Pro usage limits, storage from 20 TB |
| Google AI Ultra (20x) | Google Gemini | $199.99/mo | 20x AI Pro usage limits, storage from 20 TB |
| Gemini Notebook (free) | Gemini Notebook (formerly NotebookLM) | $0 | Standard limits, up to 50 sources per notebook |
| Gemini Notebook in Google AI Plus | Gemini Notebook (formerly NotebookLM) | Not confirmed | 2x usage limits, up to 100 sources per notebook |
| Gemini Notebook in Google AI Pro | Gemini Notebook (formerly NotebookLM) | Not confirmed | 4x usage limits, up to 300 sources per notebook |
| Gemini Notebook in Google AI Ultra | Gemini Notebook (formerly NotebookLM) | Not confirmed | 5-20x Pro usage limits, up to 600 sources per notebook |
| Business / Education / Enterprise | Gemini Notebook (formerly NotebookLM) | Custom (via Google Workspace or Cloud) | Organization data private, not used for training |
USD as published on each vendor's pricing page, checked Oct 1, 2026. Google Gemini pricing in full · Gemini Notebook (formerly NotebookLM) pricing in full
| Google Gemini | Gemini Notebook (formerly NotebookLM) | |
|---|---|---|
| Messages / rate limits | Compute-based limits refreshing every 5 hours up to a weekly cap; Plus 2x, Pro 4x Free; exact counts not stated | Standard limits on Free; Plus 2x, Pro 4x and Ultra 5-20x Pro; exact counts not stated |
| Context / file size | Free 32k tokens, Pro and Ultra 1M tokens; up to 10 files per prompt, 100 MB each (video 2 GB) | Up to 50 sources per notebook on Free; file types and size limits not stated |
| Seats / team | Gemini Enterprise Business up to 300 seats; Standard and Plus unlimited | Business, Education and Enterprise via Google Workspace or Cloud; seat limits not stated |
| Feature | Google Gemini | Gemini Notebook (formerly NotebookLM) |
|---|---|---|
| Image generation | Yes | Not stated |
| Voice | Yes (Gemini Live) | Audio Overviews (spoken-style recap) |
| File upload | Yes (10 files per prompt) | Yes (sources, 50 per notebook on Free) |
| Web search | Yes (Deep Research) | Source Discovery and Deep Research |
| Reasoning mode | Deep Think on AI Ultra | Not stated |
| Agents / tools | Gems, Connected Apps, Jules on paid plans | Not stated |
| API | Yes, separate Developer API | Not stated |
| Mobile apps | Yes | Not verified |
| Google Gemini | Gemini Notebook (formerly NotebookLM) | |
|---|---|---|
| Training on your data | Personal accounts with Keep Activity on: used for training. Off or temporary chats: not used. API paid tier and Gemini Enterprise: not used | Organization or school data never; personal data only if you share feedback |
| Retention | Auto-delete after 18 months by default; temporary chats 72 hours; human-reviewed chats up to 3 years | Not stated |
| Business controls | Gemini Enterprise: no training or ads; VPC-SC, customer-managed keys and data residency on Standard and Plus | Data private to the organization or school |
Taken from each vendor's published policy pages at the time of our check. Policies change; the source links are at the bottom.
Google's multimodal AI assistant, available free with higher limits through Google AI subscriptions.
Free stops at: Varying access to 3.1 Pro, Standard compute-based usage limits; refresh every 5 hours until weekly limit
Verified gemini.google.com (opens Google Gemini website in a new tab)
Free · paid from $4.99/mo US · checked Sep 30
Google's AI research partner that answers questions and creates summaries, audio and slides grounded in your own sources.
Free stops at: Standard limits for chat and generation of Slides, Audio Overviews and other artifacts, Up to 50 sources per …
Verified notebook.google (opens Gemini Notebook (formerly NotebookLM) website in a new tab)
Free plan available US price unconfirmed
Google's pages show notebooklm.google redirecting to notebook.google, where the product is branded Gemini Notebook, and its FAQ asks the same question. We treat them as one product, but the naming change is not explained in detail on the pages we checked.
Gemini's plan listings include Gemini Notebook, even on the Free plan, and paid Google AI plans add more Audio Overviews and notebooks. NotebookLM also has its own free tier at notebook.google, so you do not need a Gemini subscription to start.
Up to 50 on the free tier, 100 on Google AI Plus, 300 on Google AI Pro and 600 on Google AI Ultra. Gemini itself takes up to 10 files per prompt instead.
Both start at $0. Gemini publishes paid prices from $4.99/month. NotebookLM's plans page names Plus, Pro and Ultra but shows no dollar prices, so we cannot compare paid tiers.
Gemini personal accounts with Keep Activity on are used to train models, with human review of a subset; turning it off or using temporary chats avoids that. NotebookLM says organization and school data is never used for training and personal data is used only if you submit feedback.
Only official vendor pages. No third-party benchmarks, forum threads or press were used. How we review.
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